Dear Members of ENTER,
I am particularly moved to introduce myself to you today as the new Chair of ENTER Mental Health for a 4-year term. First, I would like to thank my predecessors Peter Ryan, Tim Greacen and of course more recently Professor Marja Kaunonen, for their commitment and support. I will try to live up to the mission which your vote has mandated me to do, by carrying the values of the ENTER network with dignity.
Although there has been a change of Chair, nevertheless the composition of the steering group remains the same. Marja Kaunonen will continue to bring her expertise to the group as Vice Chair for Research, Mojca Urek, who previously held this position remains with us as Treasurer; Lidia Zablocka-Zytka continues as Secretary (and we are delighted), while Lene Lauge Berring takes over as Vice-Chair of Education and Training. Finally, Mark Monahan is reappointed and again with our greatest pleasure continues as Vice-Chair of Communications.
It took a little time to stabilise this new committee membership; the network agreement necessitated the convening of an Extraordinary General Meeting following the outcome of the elections at the Annual General Meeting. I would therefore like to congratulate all members on being able to meet for a second time at the beginning of the academic year, for the EGM to finalise the membership of the Steering Group.
We would like to warmly welcome five new members to the ENTER network who are (institutions and professionals):
Oxford Brooks University, England, represented by Dr Sarah Bekaert;
The Nursing Department, RMIT University Australia and Europe; Spain, represented by Prof. Rhonda Wilson;
The Addiction Psychiatry field specialty (part of the Addiction Medicine, Department of Psychiatry) of the Lausanne University Hospital and the Lausanne University, Switzerland, represented by Prof. Yasser Khazaal;
The Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy, represented by Prof. Giuseppe Carra and Cristina Crocamo;
La Foundation des Oeuvres de la Croix Saint Simon (FOCSS), the second French institution, which will be represented by myself.
This is a landmark moment for ENTER, because these new arrivals demonstrate the interest that European and international researchers have in our organization, our activities and the values we defend in the fields of health, mental health and addiction. For example, in 2024, the ENTER network was able to demonstrate energy and collective mobilization by responding to calls for research projects on ambitious topics such as the fight against child abuse and the creation of a network of doctoral students around trauma-oriented approaches. We are pleased to be able to mobilize responses to the various European calls, because we know from experience that this requires expertise and a track record of success in project completion, that so far has been the hallmark of the ENTER network and its members.
The stakes for the world's population remain high in 2024, as situations in Europe and internationally are experiencing complex challenges that weaken the mental health of all, especially the most vulnerable. ENTER has always made it its mission to fight against the deleterious effects of significant global events, seeking to build capacity for action and fight against stigma and discrimination for everyone.
Our responses demonstrate our commitment again and again.  We have demonstrated this by placing trauma and mental health as the agenda of the 2024 annual conference.  Led by APS in Warsaw, it allowed us to explore the important and delicate theme of trauma-oriented approaches. This theme will be taken up again at next year’s conference, which will be held for the second time in ENTER’s history in Dublin, Ireland. It will be hosted by Trinity College Dublin, on 19th June 2025, where the focus will be more specifically on trauma in the workforce and workplace.
Since the onset of Covid, webinars have been an important means for the sharing and learning that we wish to continue and enrich. Â At the AGM, ENTER members asked to have wider involvements themselves in the planning of the themes for the webinar series in the years to come, such as the Next Generation Researchers and a thematic dedicated to research and its different methodologies.
We would like to thank Mark Monaham for the immense work done during the organization of these webinars, in terms of computer monitoring, as well as for the content support he does for the ENTER website: it is a challenge to know how to always renew your digital presence to promote and make known all the activities of ENTER’s members. Thanks to him for that!
Finally, I would like to renew my proposal at the AGM to take a time to share and meet with each of you during the first half of 2025, for us to get to know each other better, to listen to your desires, needs and proposals through a virtual Café. I will be accompanied by other members of the steering group. We will present the feedback from this ENTER tour at the next General Assembly, which will be held in Dublin on June 20, 2025.
Dear members of ENTER, I would like to express my thanks here on behalf of the steering group for your presence and commitment, and I wish you happy moments with your loved ones for this holiday season.
Heartily
Emmanuelle JOUET
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